The New Year's arrangements were thus made.
That evening, Cheng Jing had dinner at Chaoyangmen. He sat there for a long time without mentioning going home. Mrs. Guo thought that the two had an argument, so she did not mention the matter of Xinglin Hutong and asked Cheng Jing to stay overnight.
Cheng Chi did not refuse and went straight to rest in Madam Guo's green gauze cabinet, under the pretext of "serving" Madam Guo.
Mrs. Guo smiled and shook her head, not paying any more attention to Cheng Jing.
Early the next morning, Chenxiang and others served Cheng Jing to the court, while Zhou Shaojin sent Biyu to Cheng Wei to discuss the New Year's matters.
Cheng Chi went to Shuangyu Hutong in person.
After discussing with Chang, Cheng Shao happily agreed.
Not only did Qiu agree, she also happily brought Xie over to visit, smiling and asking if there was anything they could do to help, and said, "Now that we don't have to prepare the New Year's Eve dinner, it saves us a lot of work."
Zhou Shaojin pulled Xie's hand and said with a smile, "No, no, you just need to bring your stomach to eat."
Qiu knew that there were many women and servants at Chaoyang Gate, so she didn't bother to be polite with Zhou Shaojin. She would bring Xie over every now and then to talk to Madam Guo.
In the afternoon, Chang came with Abao and Aren.
As soon as the two children entered the room, they threw themselves into Mrs. Qiu's arms, bowed to Mrs. Qiu and others, and then ran to play with Yun'er.
Mrs. Chang looked at the two children with smiles in their eyes and said to Mrs. Guo embarrassedly, "These two children are too active."
Mrs. Guo laughed and said, "Children are not active. You will regret it when they become adults." Then she said with emotion, "This is the nature of children! When they first came, we put the snack plates next to them, but they swallowed their saliva and didn't reach out to take the snacks... You taught them well! This is how our children are."
Chang and Qiu hurriedly said “We dare not”.
Madam Guo smiled and said, "Why should we be afraid? Good deeds will bring good rewards. If you can treat them like this, you can just wait to enjoy their blessings in the future."
Everybody chatted and laughed, drank tea, ate snacks and played cards, and had a great time until it was time to light the lamps.
Yuan didn't know about this until Cheng Jing returned home from the government office.
She was so angry that her liver ached for a long time and she didn't say anything for a long time.
What kind of clan wife is she if she doesn't worship her ancestors and prepare New Year's Eve dinner
Yuan thought of Zhou Shaojin's delicate figure, as frail as a willow branch... She immediately changed her mind.
Well, let her preside over this year's sacrifice and let her have a taste of my hard work.
"Mother didn't blame me, did she? Did my second brother's wife say anything?" She simply leaned on the big pillow and said to Cheng Jing weakly, "When I think of Jiashan, I really can't muster up the energy."
She is indeed not sick, and pretending to be sick may not be too fake. It is better to say that she has a "mental illness."
Cheng Jing sighed, his expression brightened, and said, "Mom is not such a stingy person. This year, I'll have to trouble Silang's wife to help prepare the sacrifices. You should still thank your fourth brother's wife when you see her."
"Of course!" Yuan sneered in her heart and continued to lie in bed feeling uncomfortable.
With the help of Old Madam Guo, Mrs. Fan Liu and Nanny Shang, Zhou Shaojin treated everything during the New Year as a fun event. Every day after Cheng Chi came home from the yamen, he would tell him what he had done.
Cheng Chi was quite busy recently, and was originally somewhat unhappy with Yuan's indifference, but when he saw Zhou Shaojin talking enthusiastically about the New Year, he thought that this was not a bad idea - his little girl would grow up one day and would need to know these sacrificial etiquettes, so if he let her practice now, she would not be unfamiliar with them in the future.
He listened to Zhou Shaojin carefully.
Zhou Shaojin felt that celebrating the Chinese New Year was even more interesting.
Good news came from Elm Alley, saying that Zhou Chujin had given birth to a second son. Madam Liao was very happy and named him "Brother Yan". Master Liao, who was far away in Zhenjiang, was also very happy after hearing about it. He wrote a letter saying that he would go to Beijing to preside over his grandson's 100-day ceremony. Madam Liao was very angry after hearing this, and wrote back to ask him to "stay at home and don't come to Beijing to embarrass his son. His son is now a seventh-rank official and has a prosperous career." It is said that after receiving the letter, Master Liao could not help but tear it into pieces and sent a servant to scold Madam Liao for "not being a good wife"... How dare the servant really scold, he trembled for a long time and couldn't explain clearly what Master Liao had done...
When Brother Yan was one month old, Zhou Chujin quietly told Zhou Shaojin what happened at home, and said distressedly: "… If they quarrel after my father-in-law comes to the capital, it will be troublesome!"
As a daughter-in-law, it would be wrong for her to help anyone.
It would be even more wrong to ignore it.
Zhou Shaojin didn't think this was a big deal at all.
She patted Brother Yan in her arms gently while sizing up his features and said, "As a daughter-in-law, you have your natal family on one hand and your husband's family on the other. As a son, it's the same. If Mr. Liao and Mrs. Liao quarreled, I'm sure your brother-in-law would lose face. If you don't speak up, your brother-in-law would mediate, right?"
Zhou Chujin's eyes lit up when she heard this. She couldn't help but smile and looked Zhou Shaojin up and down, saying, "You have really grown up and are now able to help your sister with ideas."
If there is any regret in Zhou Shaojin's two lives, it is that he could not help his sister. Hearing her sister's words, she felt sweeter than eating honey, and she could not help but snuggle up to her sister, asking her in a tender voice, "Is it true?"
Zhou Chujin laughed and teased her, "Just now I thought you had grown up, but when I looked more closely, you turned out to be still a little girl."
This caused Zhou Shaojin to become angry.
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After eating the Ba La porridge, offering sacrifices to the Kitchen God, sweeping the dust, replacing the peach charms and pasting up Spring Festival couplets, the Spring Festival is here.
The New Year's Eve dinner was set up at Chaoyang Gate. After the dinner, everyone went to Xinglin Hutong to worship their ancestors. Early in the morning of the first day of the new year, they went to the palace to pay homage to the emperor in their formal attire. After returning home, Zhou Shaojin and other female relatives had a good sleep, but Cheng Chi and Cheng Jing still had to visit their superiors or colleagues' homes to wish them a happy new year.
Fortunately, everyone's situation is the same. No one has the energy to entertain guests one by one, and the so-called New Year's greetings are nothing more than writing a greeting card and delivering it to the doorman of each household.
The number of visiting cards received by Chaoyangmen this year is twice that of last year.
Even if Zhou Shaojin didn't ask about what was happening outside, he could feel that Cheng Chi was gradually gaining power.
On the second day of the Chinese New Year, Zhou Shaojin did not have to go to her parents' home, and she entertained Cheng Xiao and others who came back to her parents' home.
On the third day of the Chinese New Year, Zhou Shaojin and Cheng Chi went to visit Zhou Chujin in Yushu Hutong. On the fourth day, Pengcheng Bocheng invited them to drink spring wine. On the fifth day, Cheng Chi invited Gu Jiunie and Yuan Bieyun... They kept going back and forth until the Lantern Festival when the lights were turned off. Only then did Zhou Shaojin take a break.
At this time, he received a letter from Guan Laoan, the fourth roommate, saying that they were going to let Cheng Gao come to Beijing to study after the spring, in the hope that he could take the imperial examinations and see if he could make some achievements.
Despite the difficult conditions in his previous life, Cheng Gao still passed the imperial examination and became a Jinshi. What’s more, in this life he can get guidance from Cheng Shao and Cheng Chi.
Zhou Shaojin was naturally very welcoming. He not only wrote a letter to ask about the specific itinerary, but also calculated the date and asked Qin Ziji to send someone to Tongzhou Wharf to pick him up.
Seeing that the weather was getting warmer and Yun'er had fewer and fewer clothes on him, Ji Ying took Yun'er around the garden every day.
Snowball followed Yun'er like a little tail every day. Sometimes when Zhou Shaojin called it, it would bark "woof woof woof" at Zhou Shaojin a few times, come over and turn around, and then quickly follow Yun'er's feet and rub against his legs, as if it had become Yun'er's dog.
Mrs. Guo laughed and said, "This puppy is like a child. It will follow whoever feeds it and treats it well."
Zhou Shaojin chuckled.
Thinking that Cheng Gao would come and stay at her house, she was busy redecorating the guest room.
The meadow was planted with hostas and forsythia. The east side of Sankuo's house was built as an inner room, the west side was built as a study, the main room was the living room, the east side side was the bathroom, the west side side was where the servants lived, and the back room was where the stewards and attendants lived. There was a door next to it leading to the corridor at the back of the house.
Zhou Shaojin was still worried, so he personally instructed the maids and servants to paste the windows and hang curtains.
Liu Fan brought in some hot tea with a smile, saying, "Madam, you should take a rest! I'll be watching over here! I guarantee that everything will be done properly, and Master Gao will be comfortable here, just like at home."
Zhou Shaojin burst out laughing after hearing this.
After Cheng Gao got married, his first child was indeed a girl, named "Yuanyuan". Gu Shiqigu also gave birth to a daughter, named Fangfang after Yuanyuan... If they had another girl, would she be named "Lingling"
As the thought flashed through my mind, my chest felt tight and I felt like vomiting when I opened my mouth. My head felt dizzy and my eyes went dark.
Seeing that she looked uneasy and staggering, Liu Fan took two steps at a time and went forward to support Zhou Shaojin, repeatedly asking, "Madam, what's wrong with you?"
Zhou Shaojin held Fan Liu's hand and sat down, saying "I'm fine", but the depression in his heart became heavier, weighing heavily on his heart and making it hard to breathe.
Fan Liu was sweating profusely and said hurriedly, "Madam, I will ask someone to get a doctor for you."
Zhou Shaojin covered his chest and it took him a while to come back to his senses.
The wedding date had been set by the Spring Festival Gala, and the dowry was being prepared. When she heard the news, she ran over. Fan Liushi had already helped Zhou Shaojin lie down on the drunkard's chair in the room to rest for a while.
"Maybe I'm too tired these days." Apart from this, Zhou Shaojin couldn't think of any reason why she felt uncomfortable. She sat up, and the feeling of shortness of breath in the chest disappeared. She smiled, "Okay, okay, don't be nervous." She reminded again, "Don't say anything in front of the old lady?" to make her worry for no reason.
Everyone agreed.
Imperial Physician Cao is here.
Zhou Shaojin was very surprised and asked Fan Liushi: "How come the doctor came so quickly?"
The servant who came with Imperial Physician Cao said with a smile, "Our master was at home, preparing to go out for a walk, and your housekeeper came. The master asked me to come directly with the medicine box."
Zhou Shaojin had someone give him a reward, thinking that it was hard to invite Imperial Physician Cao, so since he was here, it would be good to check his pulse. He asked everyone in the room to leave, and hid behind the curtain with a handkerchief on his hand while Imperial Physician Cao checked his pulse.
Imperial Physician Cao smiled as he placed his hand on hers. After examining her left hand, he said confidently, "Congratulations, Madam. It's a positive pulse."
Zhou Shaojin was stunned.
From the twelfth month to now, Cheng Chi has been leaving early and coming back late nine out of ten days, and we haven't seen each other. Who would have thought that she was pregnant.
"Quick, please invite Imperial Physician Cao to the flower hall to serve tea." Zhou Shaojin said excitedly.
Fan Liu ran out immediately and said, "I'll go tell the old lady the good news."
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Dear friends, happy National Day!
Today's update.
O(∩_∩)O~
※(To be continued)